It's been a while since i have written on cbssports. After an attempt to start an independent blog with a buddy of mine that included weekly podcasts, fell apart after a few months, i thought i would return to my roots. Cbssports has been my home for some time so i am making a comeback on here. So lets dive into what i love most in life, baseball!

There have been many surprises already this season, but this is not uncommon. We can never truly predict what is going to happen but i can safely assume that even with the assumption that surprising things happen, none of us could have guessed the Indians hot start. Now the jury is still out on wether or not they can maintain this hot start but lets take a deeper look at this Indians team. Offensivley they had a couple of weapons that we knew about, Shin-Soo Choo has been a perenial 20-20 threat, Carlos Santana was expected to become a stud catcher and Asdrubal Cabrera had been a solid Shortstop. But there were way too many questions to think that their offense could be effective, would Grady Sizemore be able to return from injury, would Matt LaPorta become the player they traded for and who else would emerge as an offensive force? Well Sizemore has returned from Injury and been a pretty good offensive force, but has still faced injuries. The other questions really have not been answered, LaPorta has shown some flashes of talent but im not sure he will ever become the player he was expected to be and the Indians have weakspots all over the diamond. Pitching wise they have been carried by Justin Masterson and Josh Tomlin while they have suffered a dissapointing season from Fausta Carmona. The bullpen may be one of the strengths of this Cleveland team but across the board i still cant figure out how they are over .500 let alone boasting one of the best records in baseball. If they are still in the race at the deadline i would not be surprised to see them make some deals to stay in it.

The Indians are not the only headlines from this 2011 season, we have seen the Red Sox struggle mightly then make a complete turn around, the Cardinals somehow scrap together a division lead, Jose Bautista prove that he is not a one hit wonder and the Arizona Diamondbacks take a page out of the Indians book. This has been an exciting baseball season, and while my team (Chicago Cubs) have stunk it up thus far I have payed close attention because im not only a Cubs fan im a baseball fan as well. This is only a brief blog post because i dont have a lot of time tonight, but i will be writing a lot more on here now that i have given up on my other blog.

Well i am continuing my preview series of each divison, the last post was the AL West so i figured i stay out west and do the NL West. I think this could be one of the most intriquing divisions in baseball, because i think every team excluding the Padres has a shot at winning this division. So anyway here is my predictions and anaysis, please post a comment if you have any questions or if you want to tell me your opinion.

I realize a lot of people are going to disagree with me on this one, and i realize its a stretch but when you break down the statistics they seem slightly better than the D-Backs, Rockies, or Dodgers. This team makes me think a lot of the 2003 Cubs team that almost beat the Marlins in the NLCS. They have one of the best pitching staffs in the buisness. At the top of the rotation they have 08' and 09' CY Young award winner Tim Lincecum. He is arguably the best pitcher in baseball, he just hasnt got a ton of run support. Behind him is another dominant pitcher in Matt Cain, while he dosnt strike as many people out he is great for ERA. Jonathan Sanchez is the interesting option, i really think he can become an ace. He has the stuff to do it, hopefully he can put it all together this season. Barry Zito is the veteran presence in the rotation, he may not be the same guy he was 4-5 years ago but he is a solid innings eater at the least. The guy im the most excited to see in this rotation is Madison Bumgarner. This looks like another star pitcher to come out of this farm system, i think he could be in the rookie of the year running based on his talent. The bullpen is solid with Brian Wilson saving games and Jeremy Affeldt setting him up. Although after those two they are not particularly deep, middle relief is average at best. The lineup is considered the Giants weakness, and they will struggle but i think they have improved from last season. The infield is pretty good with Kung Fu Panda (Pablo Sandoval) at 3rd, he is basically a Vladimir Guerrero clone when it comes to his ability to hit unhittable balls. Aubrey Huff will man 1st and will be looking for a bounce back season. He hit decently with the Orioles but struggled after he was traded to Detroit. Hopefully Freddy Sanchez will have a healthy season and provide solid production at 2nd. Edgar Renteria will hope to improve on a dissapointing season at short although some of it was due to him declining. Bengie Molina will return at catcher but he is just holding the fort until Buster Posey is ready. The outfield is improved with the addition of the ever versatile Mark DeRosa. He can lay the corner outfield, infield and 2nd. Aaron Rowand will continue to play Center, and Nate Schierholtz will start in RF. The Giants also have solid depth with Juan Uribe, and Eugenio Velez as infield options and Fred Lewis and Andres Torres as outfield options. This may not be the best hitting team but they have depth and great pitching. I realy like this team and i think they can win this division.

This is still a good team, but i do not like there pitching depth. Billingsley and Kershaw are going to have the pressure to carry this team on their backs. I think Billngsley may be able to do that, but i dont think Kershaw can. He is to young and doesnt have the expierence to carry a team. Behind those two there is Kuroda, Padilla, McDonald, and Jeff Weaver, none of those options with the exception of Kuroda are anything more than innings eaters. The bullpen is very good though, Broxton is a bulldog and can handle a lot of innings for a reliever. Sherrill is a good setup guy and i like Tronosco, and Kuo as middle relief. The offense has some good young talent that is going to be relied upon to make the playoffs. The infield is solid with the veteran Casey Blake at 3rd, and James Loney at 1st. I am not a James Loney fan mainly because he doesnt have the power to play 1st and his defense isnt outstanding so i dont see his purpose. Ronnie Belliard will play 2nd, and Rafael Furcal will look to bounce back from a dissapointing season at short. Russell Martin is also looking for a rebound season after having the worst season of his career. The dodgers have lost some confidence in him, enough for him to be mentioned in trade talks for Adrain Gonzalez, which also questions James Loney's jon security. The Dodgers do have one of the best outfields in the majors. They saw breakout seasons from Andre Ethier in RF and Matt Kemp in CF. Ethier provieded some good power, while Kemp gave a good power, speed combo. And of course there is the infamous Manny Ramirez in LF, he missed significant time for a suspenision due to a drug test infraction. Everyone knows Manny did roids, but he does have talent and should still put up better numbers than last season. They have some good depth with Blake DeWitt and Jamey Carroll as backup infield options and Reed Johnson in the outfield. Im a big Reed Johnson fan, he plays all out and hits for contact and decent power. The depth is not quite as good as the Giants though and i think the lack of pitching depth is what really will hurt them this year.

I really wanted to put these guys in first and they very well could be but im not sold on them. The pitching has a lot of potential and they have an ace in the making with Ubaldo Jimenez. Aaron Cook is a solid middle of the rotation guy, but im not sold on Jason Hammel and especially Jorge De La Rosa and the sabermetric systems dont favor these guys either. I am excited to see Jeff Francis return but he has been out of the game for a year and will take time to get back. I have also heard about Jhoulys Chacin as another guy who could make an impact at some point this season. He is one of their top prospects and supposidly has good stuff but i havent seen him before so i cant really comment about him. I like their bullpen, hopefully Huston Street will continue to succeed as the closer and Rafael Betancourt will continue to be a good setup man. Its amazing what happend to Manny Corpas from being their top closing prospect to being a disaster (Is Carlos Marmol a potential Manny Corpas) but i think he might be able to put it together this season. The staple of every Rockies team has been offense and that hasnt changed with this one. Todd Helton continues to play at 1st and although he doesnt have the power he once had he still can hit for a great average and rbi guy. Ian Stewart will have a full time gig at 3rd this season, and while he has power his .228 average doesnt inspire success. Clint Barmes is another situation like Stewart where he hits for power but not average. Troy Tulowitzki is probably the Rockies best player which is rare for a short stop, but he is a very special player (I drafted him for Fantasy Baseball). He hits for great power, good average and has decent speed. He is an all around threat who also plays solid defense. Chris Iannetta is another power guy who struggles with his average, but i am looking for a breakout year for him. The Rockies outfield is very young with the exception of Brad Hawpe. Carlos Gonzalez will likely start in LF, He is another guy who can hit for power and speed with a solid average and could be a very good major leaguer. Dexter Fowler will man second, ive heard he has sick speed but needs to hone his decesion making and is not very patiant at the plate. Brad Hawpe is really the power bat in the outfield, and is one of thier main RBI guys. The have good infield depth with Melvin Mora as their utility guy and Jason Giambi will return to his new pinch hitting role. They also have 2 solid back up outfielders in Seth Smith and Ryan Spiboroghs.My favorite thing about this team is that its almost entirley homegrown, thats something you dont see much of anymore. This is a team that if it gets to the post-season could make a deep run but they will have to fight for it. As I said before they could easily win this division but im just not sold on them yet.

This is another team that could also win the division, but no matter what happens they will much improved from last season. The rotation will be a lot better than last season. Dan Haren is still at the top providing a quality start after quality start and striking out plenty of guys along the way. The biggest addition to this team is a healthy Brandon Webb, if he can play anywhere near the way he did before his injury should be a huge boost. Edwin Jackson will replace Max Scherezer, while he may not provide the strikouts he should be a bit more consistent and may work deeper into games. Ian Kennedy will try to get his career as a starter going after failing in New York and Billy Buckner will probably be the fifth guy. Really this is a 3 deep rotation, but you can get to the postseason with that. The pen is average to below average. Chad Qualls is OKAY as a closer, and Bob Howry is decent as setup. Aaron Heilman is an average middle reliever, his probelm is that he tries to be to perfect with his pitches which makes him walk a lot of guys and put on a lot of runners. Also he always seems to let his inherited runners score. I love Clay Zavada though, the mustache is awesome and he pitched great last season. All in all though it may be the worst bullpen in the division. I really like the infield, Adam LaRoche while he may be streaky on a monthly basis, is very consitent year to year and will proved better production at first than the D-Backs have had for a while. Mark Reynolds has some serious power and good speed, he is a great middle of the order hitter. The middle infield has a lot of potential, but they need bounce back years from both Stephen Drew (SS) and Kelly Johnson (2B). Johnson came over from the Braves during the offseason after hitting himself out of the Braves lineup. He had been fairly consistent up until last season so you have to think he will bounce back. Miguel Montero finally broke out after seeming like a bust, he put up excellent numbers and should continue to improve. The outfield is highlighted by Justin Upton in RF, who in my eyes is a hitter of Albert Pujols caliber, he may not be as developed as Pujols was at his age but i think when he peaks his numbers will be similar. Chris Young is in CF and looking to improve upon a disasterous 09' campaign in which he hit .212-15-42-54-11 in 433 AB. He has the ability to be a 30-30 threat but his high strikeout rate hinders him. Conor Jackson will start in LF, he is a consistent bat but not a great one.They have mediocre depth with Chris Snyder at catcher although he is a likely trade canidate. Augie Ojeda and Ryan Roberts are decent infield options with Gerrardo Parra and Alex Romero outfield options. This knock on this team has always been their youth and inexpierence, but now they have grown up some and they have taken thier licks so they may finally breakout and make a run for it this season.

This pick is pretty obvious, they are pretty far behind the rest of division in total talent. They have some nice pieces and if they trade A-Gon they should be in a postion to have a solid core of young players and should have the financial flexability to make some moves. The rotation actually isnt that bad with Chris Young as the leader. Which isnt very reliable due to his injury history but he does have talent. Jon Garland will eat some innings and his record may take a beating but he should have a solid ERA. Kevin Correia looked excellent at the end of last season and put up solid numbers overall. Clayton Richard (came over from CHW is Peavy trade) looks like a solid back of the rotation option with upside, and Matt Latos will get a shot for a full season. He has a ton of potential and its been mentioned that he may be hard to keep around once he gets going. The bullpen is one of the best in the game with Heath Bell at closer (another trade canidate), and Mike Adams as a setup man and future closer. Luke Gregerson, Joe Thatcher, and Greg Burke are all viable setupmen. The infield is solid anchored by one of the best players in the game in Adrain Gonzalez at first. Who knows how much longer he'll play for them but he has sick power and at any other ballpark could hit .300 and he also a gold gover first baseman. Chase Headley moves to 3rd and is an average one. David Eckstein mans 2nd and is still one of those players who does the most with the least talent. Everth Cabrera will play short and is another one of these new generation of shortstops (more oldschool, light hitting with good speed). The outfield is highlighted by Scott Hairston in RF who is one of the better power hitters at PETCO Park. At the other side is Kyle Blanks who looks to be another great player but should be at first but is blocked by A-Gon. He should be a solid middle of the order hitter. Will Venable will start in CF and will provide average production from the postition. Tony Gwynn is a solid backup option but there isnt a lot of help behind him. Jerry Hariston is a good utility infielder but may struggle at PETCO, and Matt Antonelli and and Luis Rodriguez are other infield options. The Padres are the only divison that doesnt really have a shot to win the division.

I think right now the trendy pick is to go with the Cardinals, because they made such a great playoff run last year, and they have such a dynamic passing game. But there defense has many flaws, it looked like it was playing well in the first half of the Packers game. But they let the Packers back into the game to puch they game into overtime. But they did come up big in overtime. The Saints on the other hand have had time to rest and prepare for this game. They limped into the playoffs and they need to prove to everyone that they are not going to be like the 07' Cowboys and come up lame in their divisional round homegame. The Saints have a better deffense than the Cardinals in my opinion, but the Cardinals beat a better defensive team last week. This will be another shoot out of epic proportions with Brees v.s Warner, these teams are very similar and it should be another great matchup.

My Prediction- Arizona Cardinals, This one is up in the air like the other NFC divisonal game but i'll go with the trendy pick.

This is an interesting matchup, and it should be a decent game. The Ravens have a great running game with Ray Rice and Willis McGahee, and Joe Flacco is a decent QB, better than anybody else they've had. I dont think their defense is anywhere near as good as it once was, although Ray Lewis and Ed Reed still make plays. But the Colts have Peyton Manning, who just won his fourth MVP award. He may be the best Quarterback in the history of the NFL. I know that the rest of the team is crap without him, but he is at the point in his career where he can beat any team virtually by himself.

My Prediction- Indianapolis Colts, this will be a good game but Peyton Manning will win it for them.

Well obviously i am a Cowboys fan so i know my team pretty well. They are the hottest team in the NFL right now but they will have a tough challenge against the Vikings this may be the best game of the weekend. Tony Romo v.s Brett Favre, Adrian Petterson v.s Barber, Jones, and Choice, Jared Allen v.s DeMarcus Ware. The Vikings will have an extreme home field advantage at the metrodome. This game should come down to the wire, and their are some scary matchups for the Cowboys, Terence Newman on Percy Harvin and Mike Jenkins on Sidney Rice. Jenkins and Rice will be a good matchup, but Harvin and Newman is what scares me as a Cowboys fan. Newman is a fast guy, but he has given up some big plays this year, but the secondary has been tremendous the last few weeks so i'll hope they continue their success.

My Prediction- Dallas Cowboys- I have to pick my Boys, although this is the pick i have the least confidence in, the Vikings could just as easily win this game as the Cowboys could.

I really dont think this will be that good of a game. The Chargers really have a great passing attack, Revis will have his work cut out for him this week covering Vincent Jackson. I am very high on Jackson based on what i saw out of him when they played the Chargers. He is a big strong reciever who i think is somewhat underrated. I just think that if the Chargers can turn this game into a shootout they could blow the Jets out. Mark Sanchez will not be able to keep pace with Philip Rivers gets going, the Jets do have some good offensive schemes. But if they want to stay in this game their defense is going to half to play great. The Jets got lucky to get into the playoffs and got an easy matchup against a weak, and injury plagued Bengals team.

My Prediction- San Diego Chargers, The Chargers are to talented, and the Jets are not talented enough to keep up with the Chargers.

If you have been keeping up with this weeks winter meetings you should have heard about the blockbuster trade of the meetings that has occured. The Yankees aquire Curtis Granderson, the Diamondbacks get Edwin Jackson and Ian Kennedy, and the Tigers get Max Scherzer, Austin Jackson and prospects (I think the D-Backs got some prospects to). The Yankees probably win this trade just because they were in the best shape and improved a minor hole that they had. The Tigers also got a really good deal in my mind, i have always been a fan of Max Scherzer he has great strikout potential and could fit in solidly at number 2. Austin Jackson looks to be a good center field option, but he is a prospect and will have to prove his worth (but the Yankees thought very highly of him). I think the worst part of the deal for Tigers is that they lost such a great clubhouse presense and has such great offensive and deffensive skills. The Diamondbacks seem like they got the short end of the stick, Edwin Jackson has bounced around a lot which can mean questiable character, he wont be under team control as long as Scherzer. He is streaky but when he's on he can be as good if not better than Scherzer. Ian Kennedy can fill that 5th rotation spot or help in the bullpen, but i have never been to crazy on Kennedy just based on what ive seen of him. This trade was a good way to get the winter meetings moving, there had been a lot of talk and finally we got a big trade to talk about. The thing that makes me interested about this trade is what is going to happen to Melky Cabrera. I've heard he could be packaged in a deal for Halladay, or the Cubs may be able to go after him. Im not sure who the Cubs send over there for Cabrera, but that could be extremley benifital to the Cubs. They are in dire need of a Center fielder and he is cheap and young. That is the most important thing the Cubs need to focus on as they move forward, bringing in young players who you can keep around for a while. But as i said before i think the Yankees won this trade with the Tigers gettign a good return and the diamondbacks lossed a little bit.

Hello readers, sorry its been a while since my last post it has been very busy with MLB playoffs, NFL season, NBA opening night tonight, NHL season, plus the college im going to next year is having their pre-season scrimmage tommorow so there is a lot going on. But i finally got around to finishing the D-Backs today. Lets talk about their outfield.

Justin Upton may be the best player on this team, and i think he is better than his brother B.J. He put up great numbers last season putting up a .300/.366/.532 stat line. For a 22 year old outfielder those are phenominal statistics. He also has good speed, swiping 20 bags in 25 chances, and he had a positive UZR rating according to fangraphs.com. Upton is just an all around good player, the only thing he could improve upon are his strikeout and walk numbers (55 BB, 137 K). Chris Young had a rough year in 2009, he struggled to hit over .200 and struk out 30 percent of the time. He put up a disappointing .212/.311/.400 stat line and he only stole 11 bases. He also had a negative UZR rating according to fangraphs.com. Young has never been a contact hitter but he really struggled this year, his value has gone down each year and if he continues to get worse the D-Backs may need to find a different answer in center field. Conor Jackson was out most of the season, and even when healthy he is an average hitter and an average fielder. He makes solid contact but puts up low power numbers for the positions he plays. I think he is more of a reserve type player, not a starter.Eric Byrnes has really fallen from his once elite status although he did improve some from last year. He has become exclusivly a reserve outfielder, but should Jackson be injured he could be a decent fill in option. They have a couple of young options for backups, but none with immediate impact. All in all an average to below average group.

Overview C+

I like the pitching staff, the bullpen is pretty good. But their offense needs some work, they have players to build around but are still several good players away from contending. I like Justin Upton, he seems like he could be one of the best players in the league eventualy and Mark Reynolds is a good power hitting 3rd baseman but outside of those two they are mediocre. They are not in horrible shape though and have the possibility to contend.

Miguel Montero finally broke out this season and became one of the NL's top backstops. He posted excellent numbers for a catcher with a .294/.355/.478 stat line in 425 AB. If he continues on his pace he could be a top 5 catcher, but the D-Backs history with young talent dosnt encourage that thought. Brandon Allen showed good pop in the minors last season but struggled in the majors. In his limited playing time he posted a .202/.284/.385 stat line. His fielding was also substandard, i realize that were looking at a small sample size but i still consider Allen a below average first baseman. Ryan Roberts had a pretty decent rookie season posting a .279/.367/.416 stat line in 305 AB, offensivly he may be average to above average for 2nd baseman. Defensivly he is also average to above average, the only thing for him that stinks is that he is a 29 year old. He is a short term option at 2nd. Mark Reynolds is the D-Backs blue-chip bopper, the dude can slug. He posted a .257/.349/.543 stat line which is impressive for the amount of strikeouts he gets (223 this season). He also has some speed, stealing 24 bags this season, and is a below average fielder. He is a .250 average 40 HR 100 RBI 20 SB guy, a solid middle of the lineup guy. Stephen Drew has been talked about as a possible trade canidate and he does have some value. He posted a .261/.320/.428 stat line, and in 2008 he did hit 21 HR. He is an average to below average fielder. He is a solid option at SS but the D-Backs might be able to get a good trade for him. The backup infield dosnt appear to be that great, Augie Ojeda is a decent back up infielder and Chris Snyder is a decent backup catcher but there isnt a lot of depth here. If they can find a solution at first (Conor Jackson could play it if healthy) they will be a pretty decent infield. There is room for improvment though. Tommorow we will wrap up the D-Backs with their outfield and their overview. So look for that tommorow evening.

Hey everyone and welcome to part 2 of the D-Backs team analysis. Today we are going to take a look at their Bullpen. When i think of the D-Backs bullpen the first name that comes to mind is Clay Zavada. Not neccesarily because of his talent but because of his mustache, although he is a pretty good pitcher. The D-Backs have several quality relievers so lets take a look at them.

Chad Qualls has been an excellent reliever, and over the course of his career has never had an ERA higher than 3.76 and has never had a BB/9 ratio over 2.84. He has the potential to be an excellent closer an hopefully with a better team behind him he can put up great numbers. He did save 24 games in 29 chances last season so we know he can get saves. I really think that he can be a solid closer but we'll have to wait and see. Juan Gutierrez put up solid numbers in his first full season, mantaining a 4.06 ERA and had a 8.37 K/9 ratio. Hopefully he will continue to develop into a solid set-up man, another interesting stat about Gutierrez is that he managed to accumulate 9 saves in 10 oppurtunities.Esmerling Vazquez is another 26 year old reliever who showed some promise last season. He had a high ERA last season (4.42) and that was probably due to his high walk numbers (4.92 BB/9). Throughout his minor league career he has struggled with walks so it wont suprise me if that trend continues throughout his career. He decent strikeout potential but is very average. Clay Zavada is the dude with the coolest mustache, you have to look him up on google images he is ridiculous. But Zavada is actualy a good pitcher, he is only 25 years old and posted a 3.35 ERA over 51 innings. He also has strong strikeout potential posting a 9.18 K/9 ratio but he does struggle with walks posting a 4.24 BB/9 ratio. All of his numbers are pretty good and he could turn into an excellent set up man for this D-Backs bullpen. Leo Rosales is an average middle reliever who is more suited for a mop up role. He posted a 4.76 ERA over 45 innings although outside of that his numbers are not that bad. He had a .238 opponent batting average and his walk numbers (2.38 BB/9) arnt that bad. As i said before an average middle reliever. Blaine Boyer bounced around a lot last year but he finally settled down in Arizona and performed well. In Arizona he posted a 2.68 ERA and struck out 18 over 37 innings. His career numbers do not suggest that he will perform that well but he could be a solid middle reliever. For a reliever his batting average against is not that great (career .267) and he has a career ERA of 4.76, including a 5.88 ERA last season over 72 innings. He is another mop up guy. Daniel Schlereth is only 23 years old so dont judge him on this years stats (5.89 ERA) and it was only over 18 innings. He's put up good numbers in the minors so far but he hasnt been there long so its hard to say how good he'll be and his major league stats are to small of a smaple size for me to judge him. At best he is a solid middle reliever at worst he gets sent down to the minors. Overall this is a pretty solid bullpen, they are pretty young but that will probably help in the long run. I wouldnt change anything with this group, lets just see how they do this season and move from there. But all in all they have the potential to be very good.